Robert Pera, founder and chief executive of the networking company Ubiquiti, is ranked No. 67 on the Forbes 2026 World’s Billionaires list with a net worth of $31.7 billion. He has owned the Memphis Grizzlies since October 2012.
Robert J. Pera was born on March 10, 1978, in St. Louis, Missouri. He started a computer services company while still in high school. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California, San Diego, with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and another in Japanese, and then completed a master’s in electrical engineering there.
Net Worth and Rank
- Forbes 2026 list: No. 67, with $31.7 billion
- Other estimate: Bloomberg put his wealth at $58.2 billion in 2026, according to Wikipedia
- Early record: at 36 he was on Forbes’ list of the 10 youngest billionaires in the world
From Apple to Ubiquiti
Pera, who admired Steve Jobs, worked at Apple testing Wi-Fi devices for compliance with FCC limits on emissions. He noticed that the power used by Apple’s Wi-Fi products was far below those limits, and reasoned that raising it could extend the range to dozens of miles. When his managers ignored the idea, he built his own low-cost, high-performance Wi-Fi module, working on prototypes at night and at weekends for a year.
- 2005: he left Apple and founded Ubiquiti Networks
- 2011: he took the company public
- October 2012: he became the owner of the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA
Why It Matters
Ubiquiti makes networking equipment sold to businesses and homes, and Pera’s large stake in it is the source of his fortune. His wealth is estimated at very different levels by Forbes and Bloomberg.
Net worth figures change daily with share prices. Rankings here follow the Forbes 2026 World’s Billionaires list, with wealth measured on March 1, 2026.
Image: The FedExForum in Memphis, home of the Memphis Grizzlies, whom Robert Pera has owned since 2012 (file photo, 2018; he is not pictured). Photo: Wbostic12 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
